Previous meetings: The Spurs won 86-84 in San Antonio on Nov. 1, 105-93 in San Antonio on March 11; the Thunder won 107-93 in Oklahoma City on Dec. 17.

Injury report: None reported.

The rundown

As expected, it’s come to this – the Thunder and Spurs, combatants in last year’s Western Conference finals, battling for the top spot once again. Only time will tell if their budding rivalry will extend to another postseason meeting. For now, a regular season game will massive implications on the No. 1 seed will do just fine, thank you very much.

It wouldn’t seem that the Thunder could be better after trading away James Harden, especially now that we’ve seen just how good he is in his first season with the Rockets. And yet, that’s exactly what the stat sheet argues. The Thunder are scoring more points per 100 possessions, while allowing fewer, with one of the largest average margins of victory (MOV) in recent NBA history.

Indeed, only six other teams in the shot clock era have been more dominant in that respect, and all six won NBA championships. The Thunder also have the league’s No. 1 Simple Rating System, a combination of MOV and strength of schedule favored by advanced statisticians, despite falling four short of their expected record at this point in the stage.

So while their season hasn’t always been pretty, the Thunder remain every bit as potent as last season — perhaps even more so, if the numbers are to be believed.

What to watch

* Kevin Durant (50.5 percent from the floor, 41 percent on 3-pointers, and 90.8 percent at the line) remains on pace to join the fabled “50/40/90” club. More impressively, he’s averaging almost 18 shots per game. More impressive still, he’s leading the league in scoring for the fourth straight year despite fewer attempts than Russell Westbrook.

* Ah, Westbrook. One of the most dynamic forces in the NBA, and perhaps the most polarizing. Despite his ridiculous athleticism, the Spurs have held him to 37.1-percent shooting in 18 meetings dating back to 2010, including last year’s playoff series. He’s shot 50 percent or better in two of those games while reaching double-digits assists just twice.

* Even with Harden’s absence, the Thunder bench remains one of the best in the league. While they rank only 15th in reserve scoring, it’s more about pure performance. Thanks to Kevin Martin, Nick Collison and Reggie Jackson, the Thunder maintain elite-level efficiency on both ends when their starting lineup is off the court.

Note: Unless noted, all stats taken from NBA.com, Hoops Data or Basketball Reference